System feedback coming thru speakers.....help


I just hooked up my system that I have been building for several months and I am getting some feedback out of the speakers. I ended up hooking up a different speaker and it still is doing the same thing. The speakers are all static-ie and the signal seems weak. Here is my system:
Sonograph SA 400 amp
CJ PV 11 with phono
Thorens TD 160 turntable
Hales T 3 speakers
Nakamichi dragon tape deck
Panasonic DVD S 53 as cd source (for now).
Just had a pair of audio quest bi wire speaker cables made today.

Any ideas?
Additional note: I am in a really old house......like late 1800's. Old wiring, two prong, pre grounding even. Could it be:
Line noise?
Cables touching behind my system?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Jason
jdvorak
Hi Jdvorak,

The "good news" is this is not a subtle problem that comes and goes...it is fairly black and white. Which hopefully means you've got a real problem that is identifiable by an audiotech.

Sounds like it is not your preamp.

1. Try calling Ed at CJ (Sonograph is CJ, no?) He is amazing, helpful and knowledgable.

2. What happens if you swap out the amp? Do you think you can try even tiny one you can borrow from local store?

3. Do you think it actually is radio? i have heard of some radio, rfi feedback sneaking thru somehow...RFI blocks and stuff should help but this seems like a huge 'sneaking'.
The sonic character of your noise sounds to me like "popcorn" noise. This is a bad semiconductor or tube, and if it happens with the Nak connected directly to the power amp, my vote is it's in the Nak. If it were in the power amp, you would hear it continually, irrespective of what is connected.

So to clarify, disconnect everything from the power amp, put a shorting plug (if you have one) across the power amp's RCA inputs, and listen. If its gone, reconnect the Nak and re-test. If its back, its the NAK. Do one more final test. Remove the Nak from the power amp and listen again with the input open. If it's back, then it could be a defective device in the input stages of the power amp. This is not likely because the Nak probably has a low enough source impedance (so it would be like the shorting plug).
Dhl93449, it is constant. no matter what the source. I wonder if it isn't actually the amp, as it happens with CD, nak, 2nd CD/DVD, no matter what.

I have a call into Ed at CJ too.

thx!
Lloydelee21, as improbable as it seems that an amp in both channels would do this with any input but not without, I think this is the only obvious test.